BA_Soc_1 Sociology 1

Vysoká škola finanční a správní
zima 2020
Rozsah
2/1/0. 12 hodin KS/semestr. 6 kr. Ukončení: zk.
Vyučující
Mgr. Jitka Cirklová, M.A., Ph.D. (cvičící)
Garance
Mgr. Jitka Cirklová, M.A., Ph.D.
Sekce managementu a marketingu (FES, KEM) – Katedra ekonomie a managementu (FES, KEM) – Katedry – Vysoká škola finanční a správní
Kontaktní osoba: Lenka Pokorná
Rozvrh seminárních/paralelních skupin
BA_Soc_1/cMCPH: každé liché úterý 12:15–12:59 E127, každé liché úterý 13:00–13:45 E127, J. Cirklová
BA_Soc_1/pMCPH: Út 10:30–11:14 E224, Út 11:15–12:00 E224, J. Cirklová
Předpoklady
There are no pre-requisites for this course.
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je otevřen studentům libovolného oboru.
Cíle předmětu
This course is meant as introductory. Its primary objective is to strengthen interest of students in sociology and increase their motivations in the study of modern societies. To meet this objective, the course will provide a broad overview of major theoretical perspectives, theories, and concepts while focusing on their application to everyday life. Discussions on sociologically relevant non-scientific materials (including documentary movies, news and public debates) as well as the results of the most recent cross national comparative research projects will help students to understand the role of culture, values, religion, family, socialization, education, social and cultural capital, social structure and inequality in modern societies. The ultimate goal of the course is to develop student’s own 'sociological imagination'.

After completing this course, students will be able to:
View people’s behavior from a sociological perspective.
Develop students’ own sociological imagination and apply it to current social trends, problems and situations.
Understand main trends in the development of sociology and link them to principal historical changes from traditional to post-modern society.
Identify the most important sociologists and their major contributions to the field.
Understand the three major sociological perspectives (functionalist, conflict, and interactionist) and apply them to the explanation of human behavior.
Understand the role of religion, culture and values in society, and explain socialization process and the role of family, school and other institutions in it.
Understand the nature of social inequality, explain the role of social and distributive justice norms in the legitimization of inequality, describe meritocratic vs. egalitarian ideologies of distributive justice.
Explain the main steps of research process and recognize appropriate research procedures.
Výstupy z učení
Basic theoretical knowledge, orientation in problems and context of monitored topics. At the same time, the practical skills and skills of applying the acquired knowledge in a real environment of professional activities. The learning outcomes are the support and development of the profile of the educated practitioner.
Osnova
  • Overview of study topics:
  • 1. What is sociology and sociological perspective? What is sociological imagination and how to apply it to everyday life? The most topical issues in contemporary societies and their reflections in public and policy debates. The discussion based on the documentary movie “Inequality for All”.
  • 2. Development of sociology. The most influential predecessors of sociological thinking (John Locke, David Hume, Thomas Hobbes, and Alexis de Tocqueville) and their contributions to the development of sociological thought. Founding fathers of sociology (August Comte, Herbert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim), major sociological perspectives and their most important representatives (Karl Marx, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, George Herbert Mead, Talcott Parsons, Robert K. Merton, Charles Wright Mills, Ralph Dahrendorf, Peter Berger).
  • 3. Theoretical vs. empirical sociology. Is there a gap between the two approaches to sociology? Why do we need social theories? What are the main types of social theories? Can social theories be built and developed without being exposed to empirical evidence? Can personal experience serve as empirical evidence? Is sociology a science at all? Public sociology and its legitimacy in modern society. Difference between theory and paradigm. Why is sociology a mutliparadigmatic discipline? Macro-sociology and micro-sociology.
  • 4. Sociological research. Specific features and methods of social research compared with natural sciences. Main differences between quantitative and qualitative research. Main steps of sociological research. Principal components of sociological research project. Ethics and politics in social research. Understanding and interpreting elementary results from sociological research.
  • 5. Culture and its role in society. The most important elements of culture: language, norms, sanctions, values, stereotypes, prejudices. Dominant culture, subcultures, countercultures, and cultural diversity. Acculturation and assimilation. Multiculturalism, its advantages and potential threats to social cohesion.
  • 6. Socialization. Main agents (institutions) of socialization process in modern societies. The role of family, school and social environment in forming “socialized personality”. The role of heredity in social development (nature vs. nurture). Anticipatory socialization and resocialization. The most recent research evidence on the role of social background in life-success.
  • 7. Human needs, values and value orientations. Main differences between needs and values. Hierarchy of human needs (Abraham Maslow). Where do the values we share come from? What is the role of values in society? Structure of values and their empirical assessment (Shalom H. Schwartz). What is the role of religion in the formation of value orientations? Are there differences in values and value orientations among nations? Geert Hofstede and its cultural dimensions theory. Comparing nations’ cultural dimensions using Hofstede’s model. What is European Values Survey, and how can we use it to understand society we live in?
  • 8. Social inequality. When a difference becomes inequality? Is social inequality inevitable? The relationships between inequality and life-chances. Main dimensions of social inequality in modern societies. Objective vs. subjective (perceived) inequality. Legitimization of inequality. Inequality and norms of distributive justice. Meritoratic vs. egalitarian norms and ideologies of distributive justice. The relationships between norms of distributive justice and political orientations. Various forms of capital (economic, social, cultural) and their role in the reproduction of inequality. The main factors determining getting ahead in life in different societies - the results from comparative research of inequality (International social survey program, module on Inequality).
  • 9. Social structure, stratification and mobility. Main dimensions and elements of social structure. Position, role and status. Ascribed, achieved, and master statuses. The meaning and definition of socio-economic status. Open and closed stratification systems. Social stratification from the functionalist and conflict perspectives. Two main perspectives applied on the explanation of status attainment process (allocation vs. socialization). The main approaches to the definition of social class. Social and class mobility, types of social mobility (objective mobility, subjective mobility, collective mobility). Historical development of social mobility. The relationship between mobility and democracy. Middle class, its main segments, and its role in modern society. Research evidence on class structures and mobility of contemporary societies (class images based in ISSP module on Inequality).
  • 10. Organizations, institutions, bureaucracy, government, power and politics. Main differences between organizations and institutions. Basic social institutions and their role in the transmission of society’s values. Sociological concept of bureaucracy. Types of social and political systems: democracy, socialism, and communism. Power and main types of its legitimacy. Political ideologies, parties, and voting behavior. Traditional and contemporary political issues and cleavages. Difference in believes about the role of government in contemporary societies (using data from the most recent ISSP survey Role of Government).
  • 11. Globalization, social change and social transformation. What is globalization? Main dimensions of globalization. Advantages (gains) and disadvantages (threats) of globalization. Main types of social change: evolution vs. revolution. Social transformation and sociology of transforming societies, the notion of “refolution”. Dahrendorf’s concept of social transformation in post-communist countries (theory of three clocks). Reproduction or circulation of elites in transforming societies?
  • 12. Sociology applied in marketing and marketing communication. How sociology and social research can contribute to marketing? Main topics and research questions directly linked to marketing (social structure and inequality, reference groups, patterns of behavior, values, life-styles, individualization, etc.). Methods of sociological research used in marketing.
Literatura
    povinná literatura
  • Fulcher, James and John Scott. Sociology. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.
  • CIRKLOVÁ, Jitka. Reaffirming Identity Through Images. The commodification of llusions in the Contemporary Presentation of Self. methaodos.revista de ciencias sociales, Spain: UNIV REY JUAN CARLOS, 2020, roč. 8, č. 1, s. 103-107. ISSN 2340-8413. doi:10.17
    doporučená literatura
  • Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: http://geert-hofstede.com/
  • International Social Survey Programme: http://www.issp.org/
  • European Values Study: http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/
    neurčeno
  • The Sociology Book - Big ideas simply explained. Dorling Kindrsley, A Penguin Random House Comp. 2015
  • A Sociology Experiment web www.sociologyexperiment.com Section for students
  • Popular Sociology web www.popularsociology.net
Výukové metody
Each topic will be covered by the lecturer’s presentation and followed by the discussion occasionally based on presentations of students’ assignments.
Metody hodnocení
The prerequisite for obtaining credit is the presentation of a selected sociological topic / problem, using adequate professional resources. The presentation should be within 20 minutes. Presentation of the selected sociological problem takes the form of a defense followed by a critical discussion of opponents from among students. Anticipated participation in lectures and discussions is 75%. Students who do not meet this requirement will have to write a supplementary essay at the end of the semester to be allowed to sit the final test. Assignments are obligatory and must be turned in (uploaded to the homework vault) at the due time. Students who do not turn in all assignments will not be graded. Also, there will be a midterm test which is a prerequisite for taking the final test.
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Navazující předměty
Informace učitele
Following course BA_Soc_B2
Další komentáře
Předmět je dovoleno ukončit i mimo zkouškové období.
Předmět je zařazen také v obdobích zima 2019, zima 2021, zima 2022, zima 2023, zima 2024.